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  April 1, 2020 | International, Naval

  Amentum Awarded $87 Million Navy Contract for Systems Engineering Support

  Germantown, Md.; March 26, 2020 – Amentum, a leading contractor to U.S. federal and allied governments, has been awarded a new contract by Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division worth up to $87 million. Under the contract, Amentum will provide systems engineering support to naval weapons systems, weapon control systems, and warfare systems for ballistic missile and guided missile submarines and surface ships, including Aegis, Ship Self-Defense System, DDG-1000 Guided Missile Destroyers, Guided Missile Frigates, and U.S. Coast Guard cutters. The cost-plus-fixed-fee contract has one base year and four one-year option periods. “We have been a strategic partner to the Navy for more than 40 years providing systems engineering support at Dahlgren,” said John Vollmer, Chief Executive Officer of Amentum. “Many of our people there have decades of engineering and operational experience in the Strategic Systems Program Office and on Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile programs. Our unique experience combined with our engineering and software tools allows us to offer real-world solutions to complex and ever-changing combat system and fleet challenges.” Work under the contract will primarily be performed at Dahlgren, Va.; Dam Neck, Va.; Washington Navy Yard; and Pittsfield, Mass. ### About Amentum Amentum is a premier global technical and engineering services partner supporting critical programs of national significance across defense, security, intelligence, energy, and environment. We draw from a century-old heritage of operational excellence, mission focus, and successful execution underpinned by a strong culture of safety and ethics. Headquartered in Germantown, Md., we employ more than 20,000 people in 48 states and 28 foreign countries and territories. Visit us at amentum.com to explore how we deliver excellence for our customers' most vital missions. Contacts: For Amentum: Christine Fuentes +1 (540) 219-5636 christine.fuentes@amentum.com Follow @Amentum_corp on Twitter View source version on Amentum: https://www.amentum.com/2020/03/26/amentum-awarded-87-million-navy-contract-for-systems-engineering-support/

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  June 15, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR

  Estonia’s new law opens door for weapons export, defense industry growth

  By: Jaroslaw Adamowski WARSAW, Poland — Estonia's Parliament has amended legislation to allow Estonian companies to make and handle military weapons and gear. The law paves the way for the development of the country's defense industry and the export of weapons and equipment by local players. Estonian Defence Minister Jüri Luik said in a statement that, to date, the Estonian military has acquired its gear almost exclusively abroad, but now the situation is expected to change, and export opportunities for the country's defense industry will also increase. “The absence of a right to handle weapons and ammunition has long been a serious concern for Estonia's defense industry, one that hinders the development of the defense sector,” Luik said. The legislation's summary states it “provides a legal framework for Estonian companies to begin to manufacture, maintain, import and export military weapons, ammunition, munitions and combat vehicles. The existing legislation does not allow this.” The ministry expects between five and six local companies to apply for the required licenses in the first year. The move comes as Estonia is planning a defense spending hike, with military expenditure to total €2.4 billion (U.S. $2.8 billion) in the next four years, according to Luik. Last April, the ministry unveiled the country's updated investment program for the years 2018-2022. Among others, Estonia aims to purchase munitions for about €100 million. Owing to the amended legislation, Estonian defense companies could also become suppliers to neighboring Lithuania and Latvia. Lithuania has allocated €873 million to its defense budget this year, up 20.6 percent compared with 2017. Latvia's military expenditure for 2018 is to reach €576.34 million, up €126.8 million compared with a year earlier. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2018/06/14/estonias-new-law-opens-door-for-weapons-export-defense-industry-growth/

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  December 18, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Counter-drone startup Epirus raises $70M, plans to hire 100 people

  By: Joe Gould WASHINGTON ― Epirus, a venture-backed startup offering a counter-drone capability, announced Thursday it raised $70 million to speed its technology to market. The round was led by San Francisco, California-based Bedrock Capital, and brings the 2-year-old company's total capital raised to roughly $80 million. The news comes six months after Epirus inked a strategic supplier agreement with Northrop Grumman to provide exclusive access to Epirus' software-defined electromagnetic pulse system Leonidas. Since then, the firm has doubled in size and plans to add 100 jobs in 2021. “We're aggressively hiring and expanding our footprint on the East and West coasts,” Epirus CEO Leigh Madden told Defense News. He added that the firm is shifting its headquarters from the Hawthorne, California, office to its newer offices in Tysons Corner, Virginia. Alongside Bedrock and several other investment firms, L3Harris Technologies is investing in Epirus. Epirus developed a SmartPower power-management technology that underpins its counter-unmanned aircraft system, and the company plans to partner with L3Harris to create greater power efficiencies within some of its existing systems. The technology, which allows the system to deliver a high-power output with a relatively low-power input, has a range of applications across other radio frequency systems, Madden said. (The company's systems involve a combination of high-power microwave technology and, for enhanced targeting, artificial intelligence.) The new funding, “enables us to rapidly build out our counter-UAS system,” Madden said. “We'll be bringing the Leonidas system to market as well as advancing the capabilities of our SmartPower technology ― and working with government customers and partners to expand the application of that technology.” Beyond Bedrock and L3Harris, the new Series B funding came from Piedmont Capital Investments, 8VC, Fathom VC and Greenspring Associates. In 2019, Epirus closed $17 million in Series A funding, which was led by 8VC. (Series A is meant to help a company progress to the development stage, and Series B is meant to help a company market or expand its existing market footprint.) Geoff Lewis of Bedrock Capital said in a statement that investors are “confident Epirus has the capacity to integrate its technology into top tier counter-UAS systems and lead the way in developing new and compelling directed energy applications.” “Epirus counters the weak assumption baked into standard VC models that the economic and cultural gaps of defense-focused investments are too wide to overcome,” Lewis said. https://www.defensenews.com/2020/12/17/counter-drone-startup-epirus-raises-70m-plans-to-hire-100-people/